Theory and Practice Evaluation

My evaluation will focus upon my experiences during this module, and my development as a Journalist from news days. This evaluation will provide a critique of my performance and where improvements could have been made to improve my performance during this assessment.

News day were a fantastic opportunity to be a part of because it gave us all an insight into what a working day would be like inside a news room for a Journalist.

To begin with the experience was horrible due to the fact it was unclear how the day would go, and whether we would all our deadlines. However, as the day wore on and content began to take shape it became exciting to think we would be bringing fresh stories to the general public and perhaps shaping the agenda of their news diet.

After the day was complete your satisfaction would depend on whether your story had been published. 

However, when my stories weren’t published it became my goal to make sure the story would go up on the website the following week. My Andy Adams story is an example of this it went up on Staffs Live, after facts were clarified and changes to structure were made.

The experience became enjoyable, as by preparing all of my stories beforehand this allowed me to discover human interest stories. This ensured the pressure was lifted, as my stories were submitted before the one o’clock deadline.

My first news day role was as a page sub, which proved to be a difficult role to fulfill, as we had to fill three pages with content.

This role required planning and forward thinking. Our problem as a page team was that we were unaware of what stories the reporters had prepared, for us to include, which put anyone in an editorial role at a disadvantage because we couldn’t plan our pages without the content, which meant we had to guess.

When the reporters copy filtered through it caused problems, as either the words wouldn’t fit the boxes or they would go beyond the capacity of the box. If we had communicated better as a group some stories could have made page leads instead of late inclusions.

My performance as a page sub was good. All of my page was filled with content that had been checked for grammatical errors, and was compatible with the house style. Pictures and colours were used to attract the readers eye, and the conventions of a news page were met.

If the opportunity to improve presented itself then the main thing would be to ensure that a plan was kept of what stories reporters were doing, and that content was submitted in good time. My performance could have been improved with more communication with and from my peers, as they could have helped develop my page from a readers point of view.

The role of reporter was enjoyable as it gave me the chance to explore, build contacts and develop my writing style.

Every week a list of ideas was prepared for news day, and two stories were chased up. My weekends and Mondays were spent out talking to members of the public, interviewing by phone, or sending emails asking for comments.

This hard work payed off, as human interest stories were discovered on residents reactions to tax and benefit changes, and contacts were established at Staffordshire police, which can be used for future stories.

My performance could have been improved if more time had been spent seeking advice from my lecturer or peers on my stories that weren’t published, as this would have provided more content for my portfolio.

The role of an online editor was an interesting opportunity to see how the digital age has enhanced news and content.

Our flow of content on the day was steady, and most reporters by this point had established they needed to get their copy in early.

Working in a team was a challenge, but by talking to one another we were able to get through the articles and help each other ensure the articles were fit for purpose on Staffs Live.

Where an improvement could have been made is if we  had questioned reporters about their use of pictures, as one reporter had taken their picture straight of the internet, which is legally dangerous.

In conclusion this module helped me to understand a Journalistic environment, it helped me develop my contacts book, and emphasised the importance of hard work and preparation.

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